December 8, 2009 9:32AM 

# Palmer and Cowen on the Nature of Liberty 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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Two leading libertarian thinkers, Tom Palmer and Tyler Cowen, discussed Palmer’s new book, [*Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice*](http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=&pid=1441438)*,* at a recent Cato Book Forum. You can see the [video or download a podcast here](https://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=6567).

Two years ago, Cowen and Palmer were among the contributors to a Cato Unbound colloquy on [the past and future of libertarianism](http://www.cato-unbound.org/archives/march-2007/). Cowen was interviewed for [Cato’s Daily Podcast](https://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=266) and expressed a more critical view of the concept of “negative liberties” than classical liberals typically do. A few days later, in another Daily Podcast, Palmer [took on what he considers the coercive confusions of “positive liberty”](https://www.cato.org/dailypodcast/podcast-archive.php?podcast_id=268) and defended the necessity of “negative liberty” to a free society.

Listen to them both and [buy the book](http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=&pid=1441438).

Update: Here’s a portion of Palmer’s talk that focuses on the [rule of law](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuLqKuBfiCE):

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